Rotary operator with indicator



1965 s. STRUBLE ETAL 9 9 ROTARY OPERATOR WITH INDICATOR Filed April 1'7, 1963 INVENTORS SPENCER STRUBLE WILLIAM C. FOX

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,202,127 ROTARY OPERATQR WITH INDICATGR Spencer Struble and William C. Fox, West Hartford,

Conn, assignors to Veeder-Root, Incorporated, Hartford, Conm, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Apr. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 273,631

8 Claims. (Cl. 116-115) The present invention relates to rotary operators and more particularly to a manually operable rotary operator providing an indication of its rotary position.

Rotary operators of the type to which the present invention is directed have particular utility for controlling the rotary position of a shaft connected to a device, as for example an electrical unit such as a potentiometer, for making adjustments therein. Such devices are usually very sensitive and therefore require accurate adjustment to provide the desired setting. Therefore, it is a principal aim of the present invention to provide a new and novel rotary operator of the type described which is capable of adjusting and indicating the rotary position of an associated device with improved precision and accuracy.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rotary operator which is capable of convenient assembly and disassembly with an associated device and which allows for ready calibration thereof.

A further aim of the present invention is to .provide a rotary operator of compact construction which is nevertheless capable of indicating minute angular displacements through a comparatively large angle of movement.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide a novel rotary operator having a new and improved braking mechanism readily controllable by manual operation and yet extremely effective in locking the operator without changing its angular adjustment.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rotary operator having a novel arrangement of parts ensuring operable coaction therebetween with a minimum backlash and with sensitive and facile operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the rotary operator of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section view of the rotary operator, additionally showing in phantom a shaft connected thereto;

FIG. 3 is a reduced transverse section view taken substant'ially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, additionally showing a portion of the rotary operator drive mechanism in phantom; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings in more particularity, a preferred embodiment of the rotary operator of the present invention includes a frame, generally denoted by the numeral 10, having a circular base 12, a circular face plate 14 spaced above the base, and a pair of diametrically opposed arms 16 formed integrally with the face plate and fixed to the periphery of the base by a pair of machine screws 18. An upwardly tapering hollow knob 26) is mounted within the frame between the arms 16 and the base and face plate and is externally serrated for convenient manual operation.

of portions of the drive 'A rotor 22 having a central axially extending stud portion 24 is rotatably mounted within a central opening 26 of the base 12. A disc portion 28 of the rotor 22 is supported on the upwardly facing shoulder 30 of the base and a ring retainer 32 resiliently engages the lower extension of the stud portion 24 to retain the rotor 22 against axial movement on the base. The rotor serves as the output member of the rotary operator and is formed with a cylindrical recess 33 to enable the rotor to be readily fixed to a shaft 34 (shown in phantom in FIG. 2) by a pair of angularly spaced set screws 36. To provide access to the set screws 36, a transverse opening 33 is provided in the knob. The hollow control knob has a central opening receiving the upper extension of the stud portion 24 for rotatably mounting the knob coaxially with the rotor 22, and is retained on the stud portion by means of a ring retainer 40 similar to the retainer 32.

A counter, generally denoted by the numeral 50, is mounted below the face 14 of the frame substantially within the upper hollow end of the knop. In the conventional manner, the counter 50 has an operating shaft 52 with a plurality of indicia bearing rotary elements 54, 56 and 58 mounted thereon. The lowest order or units wheel 54 is fixed to the shaft 52 by the shaft serrations 6t? and the two higher order wheels 56, 58 are retatably mounted on the shaft. The shaft extends transversely of the axis of the rotor and knob and is mounted within downwardly opening slots 62 in a pair of stanchions 64 formed integrally with the face plate 14. The hubs of the wheels 54, 56 and 58 and a pair of washers 65' prevent lateral movement of the counter wheels and the counter shaft. A pair of mutilated transfer pinions 67', 68 are rotatably mounted on a shaft 70 for indexing the wheels 56, 553 one integer upon each revolution of the wheels $4, 56, respectively. In the usual manner, the counter wheels are provided with gears 69 in mesh with the transfer pinions and gear sectors 71 for indexing the transfer pinions and therefore the higher order counter wheels. The shaft 70 is fixed Within downwardly openings slots 72 in a pair of depending stanchions 44 formed integrally with-the face plate 14 and is secured therein by upsetting an end portion of the stanchion against the shaft. A suitable window 78 with a magnifying crystal 81 is provided in the face plate 14 for viewing the counter reading, it being understood that the Window and crystal are dimensioned for appropriately viewing the reading of thecounter wheels.

The counter is operatively driven with the knob 20 through. a square-tooth upwardly facing ring gear formed integrally on the knob and a sprocketlike pinion gear 82 in mesh with the ring gear 80 and secured to a reduced serrated end portion 84 of the counter shaft 52. The gear 82 has formed integrally therewith a cylindricalroller 86 adapted for rolling engagement on an annular upwardly facing shoulder 88 of the knob. A roller 90 of like diameter is rotatably mounted on the opposite reduced end of the counter shaft for rolling engagernent with the shoulder 88 and is suitably retained thereon by a washer 92 and a spring clip 94 received within an annulus in the counter shaft.

Differential gearing operatively connects the knob with the rotor 22. A pair of opposed axially facing square-tooth ring gears 96, 98 are integrally formed on the knob and base, respectively, and a pair of sprocketlike gear pinions Itltl, 152 in mesh with the gears 96, 98 are pivotally mounted on the rotor 22 by pins 104 having enlarged heads for retaining the pinions on the rotor. As with the pinion 82, the pinions 100, 102 have integrally formed therewith rollers 106 engageable with opposed axially facing shoulders 108, 110 on the knob and base, respectively. A roller 112, shown in phantom in FIG. 3, having a diameter equal to that of the rollers 106 is piv- 'rotary position of the rotor.

otally mounted on the rotor 22, similar to the mounting of the pinions res, N92. The axes of the pinions 1M, 1% and the roller 112 are angularly spaced substantially 120 degrees (as seen in FIG. 3) with the axesof the pinions being spaced to reduce the backlash in the differential drive between the knob and rotor. This. is accomplished by locating the axes of the pinions so that when teeth on one of the pinions are substantially centered in the recesses between the square teeth on the gears 96, 98, as shown in FIG. 4, then pairs of adjacent teeth on the other pinion substantially straddle lands on the gears, as shown in FIG. 5.

' Compression coil springs 11% received within openings in the stanchions 64 urge the counter shaft 52 downwardly to maintain the rollers 86, 90 in engagement with the knob shoulder 88 and to maintain the sprocket gear 82 in mesh with its coacting ring gear 80. The bias so created on the knob is directed to the rollers 1%, H2 to maintain them in engagement with the shoulders 108, 116) and the pinions lltlt), no in mesh with the ring gears 96, 98. With the differential drive of the rotor 22, the rotor is driven one-half revolution for each full revolution of the knob 2o thereby providing for increased accuracy of the The drive of the counter 5th is designed so that for each revolution of the rotor 22, or for every two revolutions of the knob, the counter wheels will register a count of one hundred (100). This is accomplished by providing a 5:1 ratio between the number of teeth on the ring gear 8% and the sprocket gear 82.

in the usual manner, the counter wheels 54, 56 bear thereon a sequence of indicia of through 9; however, inorder to increase the reading for a three-wheel counter above the usual maximum reading of 999, the highest order counter wheel 58 bears a sequence of indicia of 0 through 10 thereby enabling the counter to count to 1099, an increase in the count of ten percent. Accordingly, the highest order wheel 58 is indexed only about 9.1 degrees rather than the usual 10 degrees. This is accomplished byv providing twenty-two (22) teeth on the wheel 58 rather than the twenty (20) teeth provided on the wheels 54, 56, and by correspondingly contouring the teeth of the transfer pinion 68.

The rotor 22 can be manually locked with an upstanding end or button 139 of a radially extending locking lever 132. The inner end 1134 of the lever is generally ring-shaped and is rotatably mounted on the basewithin a recess provided by axially and radially extending shoul ders 136, 138, respectively. The lever extends downwardly from adjacent the ring 134 through a slot opening 140 in the base and outwardly through a recess M2 in the lower face of the base. A depending annular ring 144 on the rotor 22 provides a brake drum engageable by a pair of diametrically opposed brake shoes 146 pivotally 51) mounted by pins 143 on the base. The brake shoes are outwardly convex with inwardly extending follower portions 154B engageable bycamming lugs 152 on the lever ring 134.

' eration of the brake, the lever can be readily actuated with effective locking of the rotor.

It can therefore be seen that the rotary operator of the present invention is particularly useful for accurately controlling and indicating the rotary position of a control shaft, as of a potentiometer or the like, and the output rotor can be effectively locked in any selected position without affecting the rotor position or placing an undue strain on the parts of the mechanism. Additionally, the

rotary operator provides for rotary indication every 3.6 degrees of movement of the rotor and a full eleven (11) revolutions thereof. Further, the operable parts of the rotary operator of the present invention are maintained in proper alignment and engagement irrespective of 'whether the output rotor is secured to an associated shaft and can be readily assembled or disassembled from an associated shaft or realigned therewith for appropriate calibration.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

15 We claim:

l. A rotary operator comprising a frame, a hollow control knob member and an output rotor member supported for coaxial rotary movement with respect to the frame, a counter having at least one indicia bearing element rotatably supported'with respect to the frame, means operatively connecting one of said members with said indicia bearing element, and differential drive means operatively connecting the knob member and output member including gear means on the frame and knob member and a pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor member coacting with said gear means.

2. The rotary operator of claim 1 wherein the counter comprises. a plurality of coaxial indicia bearing elements with the highest order element bearing a sequence of indicia of 0 through 10 and with the remaining elements bearing a sequence of indicia of 0 through 9.

. 3. A rotary operator comprising a frame having a base and at least one arm extending outwardly from adjacent the periphery thereof, .a hollow control knob member and an output notor member supported for coaxial rotary movement with respect to the base, a counter having at least one indicia bearing element, means supported by the arm for rotatably supporting the indicia bearing element,-means operatively connecting one of said members 40 with said indicia bearing element, and differential drive means operatively connecting the knob and rotor members including opposed gear means on the base and knob member and at least one pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor member coacting with said gear means.

' 4. The rotary operator of claim 3 wherein the rotor member has a brake drum portion and further comprising at least one brake shoe pivotally mounted on said base having a braking surface movable into engagement with the drum for braking the rotor member, and manually operable cam means rotatably mounted on the base coaxially with the rotor member, said brake shoe having a follower portion spaced from its pivotal axis engageable by the cam means and its braking surface intermediate the follower portion and pivotal axis.

,. 5. The rotary operator of claim 3 wherein the differential drive means further includes a second pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor member coacting with said gear means and angularly related to said one pinion for reducing the backlash in the differential drive.

6. A rotary operator comprising a frame having a base and at least one arm extending outwardly from adjacent the periphery thereof, a hollow control knob and an out put rotor supported for coaxial rotary movement with respect to the base, a counter having a counter shaft and an indicia bearing element connected thereto, means supported by the arm rotatably supporting the counter shaft, means operatively connecting the knob and the counter shaft including gear means on the knob and a pinion coacting therewith fixed to the counter shaft, and differential drive means operatively connecting the knob and the rotor including opposed gear means on the base and knob and a pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor coacting with said gear means. l

, 7. A rotary operator comprising a frame having a base, 75 a face plate spaced outwardly from the base and a pair of arms connecting the face plate and base, an output rotor mounted for rotary movement on the base, a hollow control knob rotatably mounted on the rotor coaxially therewith and between the base and face plate, a counter having a drive shaft rotatably mounted on the face plate inwardly thereof and about an axis extending transversely of the axis of the knob, means operatively connecting the counter drive shaft to the knob including gear means on the knob and a pinion fixed to the drive shaft coacting therewith, differential drive means operatively connecting the knob and rotor including opposed gear means on the base and knob and a pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor coacting therewith, and brake means including a pair of brake shoes pivotally mounted on the base for movement into engagement with the rotor and manually operable cam means mounted on the base for movement coaxially with the rotor for actuating the brake shoes.

8. A rotary operator comprising a frame having a base, a face plate spaced outwardly from the base and a pair of arms connecting the face plate with the base, an output rotor mounted for rotary movement on the base, a hollow control knob rotatably mounted on the rotor coaxially therewith and between the base and face plate; differential drive means operative 1y connecting the knob and rotor including inwardly and outwardly facing ring gears on the knob and rotor respectively, and a pinion rotatably mounted on the rotor coacting therewith; inwardly and outwardly facing annular shoulders on the knob and rotor and a plurality of angularly spaced rollers rotatably mounted on the rotor in engagement therewith, a counter having a drive shaft rotatably mounted on the face plate inwardly thereof about an axis extending transversely :of the axis of the knob, means operatively connecting the counter drive shaft to the knob including an outwardly facing ring gear on the knob and a pinion fixed to the drive shaft coacting therewith, an outwardly facing annular shoulder on the knob and a pair of rollers mounted on the drive shaft adjacent the ends thereof in rolling engagement, therewith, and spring means mounted on said frame biasing the counter drive shaft inwardly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,424,000 7/22 Carson 23595 1,761,950 6/30 Zubaty 44 1,788,871 1/31 Helgeby 74-54 2,470,582 5/49 Seasongood 116-124 2,777,637 1/57 Matthew 235-103 2,881,296 4/59 Bourns et al. 338196 2,979,258 4/61 Van Allen 235 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,583 8/62 Germany.

LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Primary Examiner. 

3. A ROTARY OPERATOR COMPRISING A FRAME HAVING A BASE AND AT LEAST ONE ARM EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY THEREOF, A HOLLOW CONTROL KNOB MEMBER AND AN OUTPUT ROTOR MEMBER SUPPORTED FOR COAXIAL ROTARY MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE BASE, A COUNTER HAVING AT LEAST ONE INDICIA BEARING ELEMENT, MEANS SUPPORTED BY THE ARM FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING THE INDICIA BEATING ELEMENT, MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING ONE OF SAID MEMBERS WITH SAID INDICIA BEARING ELEMENT, AND DIFFERENTIAL DRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING THE KNOB AND ROTOR MEMBERS INCLUDING OPPOSED GEAR MEANS ON THE BASE AND KNOB MEMBER AND AT LEAST ONE PINION ROTATABLE MOUNTED ON THE ROTOR MEMBER COACTING WITH SAID GEAR MEANS. 